“When the Founding Fathers established freedom of the press as a constitutional right, they didn’t hedge their support with the phrase as long as they’re nice about it. A free press by design is a check on power and often a robust critic of government... Reporters are watchdogs, not trained seals."

Chicago Tribune

Many note that “while nobody thinks Acosta assaulted a White House staffer, plenty of people did find his conduct to be inappropriate grandstanding. And this face-off between Trump and CNN is just one flurry in a larger war between Trump and the mainstream press that has an element of phoniness to it... while there is a real conflict here, there is also a real confluence of interests. Trump is good for CNN’s business, and CNN is a good foil for Trump’s politics."

Vox

“Trump wanted to send a message. In the case of CNN and the rest of the press, the message is that they should be nicer to him. He also wanted to send a message to his supporters that he is tough on the news media, whom he condemns as ‘enemies of the people’... Courts will rule for CNN but Trump has already won."

Bloomberg

From the Right

The right thinks Acosta’s credentials were justifiably revoked due to his inappropriate behavior.

“The First Amendment prevents the President or anyone else in the federal government from restricting the ability of citizens to report and publish. Does it also require the President to listen to ill-informed lectures for as long as the lecturers choose to speak? Obviously if everyone had the right to refuse to surrender the microphone at press conferences the result would be fewer members of the press corps having an opportunity to ask questions, not more."

Wall Street Journal

“A president does not have to hold press conferences at all and can include or exclude anyone he wants. Franklin Delano Roosevelt used to hold press conferences of selected reporters in the Oval Office and prohibit them from quoting him without special permission. FDR never ranted publicly about fake news, but did refer to ‘the stupidity, cowardice and philistinism of working newspapermen.’"